Pancakes
by loiviation
Summary: The dictator and the jester - just the right mix to create one hell of a kid. Junosuke spends the day whipping up a late night snack for little Naomi. Parenting, is he doing it right? R&R please! :3


**I ship TsuchiMori and NamiSaki... so this is an ode to my love for the dictator and the jester :)**

_**R&R please!**_

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"_You're_ doing it wrong!"

"Well, if you let _me_ do it, we would've had our tummies big by now."

In the farthest part of the Sasaki Residence, a wheat-haired man was currently arguing with a little ginger-haired girl about the right amount of water to put in a mixing bowl. Junnosuke Sasaki was sure that he had everything under control an hour ago. How the kitchen turned into a complete mess was all thanks to the little powder-nosed tyke beside him, sticking her spatula in the mixing bowl to check the consistency of their pancake mix.

Naomi Sasaki was as stubborn as her mother. She had just recently turned seven last month and already she was starting to act like she was seventeen. Junnosuke honestly felt that he wasn't raising his daughter right but he only had her genes to blame for it. She did get her stubbornness from his wife's side of the family, after all. Taking that and having it with his own determined attitude towards life resulted to having a little know-it-all. Junnosuke honestly felt both bitter and proud of himself for producing such a powerful child with Nami.

She lifted her spatula from the mixing bowl, the mix dripping off it like water. Junnosuke stared at it with absolute horror knowing that it wasn't the right mix. "I think we could use more sugar," Naomi suggested after poking her finger into the bowl and tasted it. Her daughter obviously inherited her mother's predominance and that was going to be a problem later on.

Junnosuke grabbed another flour bag off the table behind them and placed it on the counter. "The recipe calls for more flour, Naomi, not sugar," he said as he took a measuring cup and started leveling flour into it. Naomi watched and tiptoed on her chair to peek into the bowl. "Nope, I don't think we need more of that white powder, Papa," she shook her ginger head and grabbed the sugar bag. "We need more sugar, trust me." Trust. Junnosuke winced. Trusting was something he'd rather not do right now.

Junnosuke watched as Naomi madly poured in the whole bag into the bowl. Past her little frame, he was surprised to see yet another ginger-haired woman with her arms crossed, leaning against the door frame. Junnosuke froze. She wasn't supposed to be home yet. He could see the disappointment plastered on her face; a brow twitching as she kept her eyes shut tight. He tried on a smile and waved at her but she was at a very unhappy state. Apparently, Naomi was oblivious to all of this. The kid was grinning over the amount of sugar she had put into the bowl while her father silently prayed for rapture.

Nami Sasaki (née Amou) was definitely the queen of the household. Sure, Junnosuke was the only man in the family and he paid the bills with his 'star player' status at the big league, but that didn't mean crap. Nami held down the fort like how a nail would pound a strong wood plank down on the floor. Without her, the house would've fallen apart by now.

"Honey…" Junnosuke tried to sweet talk his wife but failed nonetheless. She wasn't going to fall for his charm anytime soon. He was lucky enough to get her down on the bed that one night and that was it. Even that resulted to yet another challenge. She stared him down sternly as she walked towards them. He honestly felt like peeing in his pants right then and there.

Nami slid her arms around their daughter's tiny waist and looked over her shoulder. "What's that you're making, Naomi?" she asked the smaller ginger. Naomi turned her head quickly and, upon realizing that she was being hugged by her mother, sprung a warm embrace back at her. Nami lifted her up from the chair as she wiggled to be put down on the floor. "We're making pancakes!"

"Oh really?" Nami arched a brow and stared at the bowl of unidentified substance. "Why is it green, darling?"

Junnosuke felt like this was the perfect time for him to assert his role in trying to control the situation. "Ah, that's because she placed in mint!" he said, swinging the spatula up and therefore sending a bit of the batter at the far end of the counter. Nami stared at the blob and felt her adrenaline rush. "I tried to tell her that it didn't need mint, but she insisted."

"Mou, papa, _you_ said we needed mint," Naomi opposed, sending chills over Nami's spine. _U-Unbelievable,_ Junnosuke thought as his daughter batted her lashes and beamed with innocence. Why on earth would a grown man want to put mint in his pancakes?

Before he could even get the chance to explain, Nami fell into the dark side. Junnosuke saw his life flash before his eyes and prayed to Kami-sama for mercy. Nami snatched the spatula off his hand and pushed the two aside as she dumped the contents of the bowl inside the trash bin. Junnosuke and Naomi slid to the other end of the counter and watched carefully. Nami went through the pancake making process like a storm and turned the stove on for heating.

"Neh, mama…" Naomi spoke, pointing at the bowl. "I think you need to put more sugar…" Junnosuke stared at his daughter and felt an honest stroke of horror build up around his body. Nobody can tell Nami Sasaki what to do. Nobody. It was just unheard of.

"No, we don't." Nami replied sternly, but with enough grace that Naomi took it as a comforting reprimand from her mother. Junnosuke thought he heard a soft 'okay' escape from Naomi's lips. Darn it, why can't he discipline her that way? What the hell was he doing wrong? Do girls have this secret language or tone that they use when communicating with each other?

And then Junnosuke remembered something. The bills were overdue. Funny story; he was supposed to drop the payments at the office right after work yesterday. The due date was over. Well, to be honest, it wasn't supposed to be his job to pay the bills. He just has to work to earn the money for the bills. The paying part was supposed to be taken care of by the wife. "Ah, honey…"

Nami's eyes pierced through his soul. This was obviously not the time for that. "F-Forget it, it can wait!" Junnosuke sweated it off and faced the other way. Nami whipped and flipped, and in no time, the father and daughter were both served the pancakes that took them hours to prepare. Nami Sasaki whipped up a dozen in a matter of minutes.

Naomi took a fork and took the first bite. Junnosuke and Nami watched as Naomi filled her cheeks with pancakes, said 'oishi' right after every bite, and giggled as she stared back at them. Junnosuke smirked at the sight. No matter how troublesome little Naomi can get, she did after all take after her mother. As the two ladies in his life shared a plate of pancakes, he couldn't help it but watch how similar they were. Their cheery smile, fierce eyes, fair skin, curly ginger hair… the resemblance was outstanding. The way that they both took things seriously and insisted on what they wanted was just in the surface. Deep down, they were both the perkiest pair of gingers that he's ever met in his whole life.

"Neh, papa…" Junnosuke snapped out of his thought as Naomi extended her hand to feed him a piece of her share. "Mama's pancake is really good." He looked at Nami and she nodded, gesturing him to bite. She looked completely calm, now that the kitchen was back to its former glory. He took a bite and smiled, patting his daughter's crown. "You're right, Naomi. Mama can sure cook a mean batch of pancakes," he said, earning huge grins from both gingers.

As Naomi tiptoed by the sink, watching her mother wash the plates, Junnosuke sat by the bar and watched them both. These two dominated his life more than he expected but they also gave him the support he needed. He remembered how Nami always watched his games and shot every winning moment he had. When Naomi was born, he earned himself an extra cheerleader at the bleachers, telling him to win the gold or else. The times he walked in on them trying to hide their "surprise" banners for the game the next day tickled his emotions.

As he watched Nami lift Naomi up to sit on the bar, Junnosuke smiled lightly. The little dictator yawned, having him sigh. He knew what he had to do. He carried her up to her room, his wife following him up the stairs and stopping on the door to give them space. This little dictator might be as brave as her mother but she still needed her night light turned on. Like most kids, she was scared of the dark. He switched her night light on and gently kissed her forehead before finally closing her eyes.

Junnosuke slowly backed away and closed the door behind him. _One dictator down_, he thought. "What now?" Nami said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes blazed with passion as he leaned down to give her a hot kiss. But before he can even turn his fantasies into a reality, Nami pressed her slender finger against his lips. "What?" he asked, surprised by the action taken.

"Before you can even think about creating a greater mess in our room," she started as she pushed him back the wall, "you better clean up the mess you made at the kitchen. I'm not going to mop it up for you. I already did the dishes." Junnosuke blinked as she stretched and yawned, making her way towards their room. "Fair division of chores, honey."

"Y-yeah but…" he was utterly confused.

Nami peeked out of the room and gave him a taunting look. "If you start now, you might just be able to get the prize faster."

_Don't underestimate me,_ he thought as he ran down the stairs to rush into the work, eager to claim the prize before she could even finish taking her evening bath.

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_**Don't forget to send your love/hate over at the review box below... or wherever it may be :3**_

**Corda characters make the best kids, don't they... SHIP MY SHIPS, I DARE YOU.**


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